It is a dangerous game you play when you choose to wind up this vintage of Irishmen but Morgan Parra, France's latest maestro in the No9 shirt, is too young to care about that. In the build-up to this game he had brazenly told the world that Ireland's 12-match unbeaten run was about to end – and that they were cheats. Then, impressively, he took centre stage as his words were borne out.

France did indeed end, if that is emphatic enough a word, Ireland's run, as well as their dream of back-to-back grand slams. In doing so they exposed the ­visitors as if not cheats, then a horribly undisciplined side. Jerry Flannery was the most grievous Irish sinner. His lunatic hack at the legs of Alexis Palisson signalled the end of Ireland's dominance of the matchand will surely get him a retrospective ban. The Irish could also be without Rob Kearney, who strained a knee ligament.

And when France are in this sort of mood,, as South Africa discovered in the autumn, even champion sides will leave severely chastened. "On a performance like that, it would take a very good team to beat them," said Brian O'Driscoll, who is expected to have recovered from a bruised left-knee joint to face England on Saturday week. "There is huge disappointment. We haven't felt that for over a year, but results like that are quite grounding at times. Not that we ever thought we were infallible, but you get a reality check from those sorts of game."

The talk among the Irish afterwards was of the delicacy of the margin between triumph and disaster.They had dominated the first quarter of an hour, — indeed they enjoyed significantly the greater share of possession throughout —doing a job on France's line-out and finding plenty ofholes in their defence. Gordon D'Arcy's jinking run and chip and chase so nearly resulted in a try in the 16th minute that might have set the game on a different course. But a minute later France broke out and Cian Healy's tug on Parra, who had yet to be passed the ball, resulted in a yellow card for the prop and three points from the scrum-half.

If that piece of indiscipline undermined Ireland it was Flannery's coup de fou that precipitated their collapse. Ireland had been awarded a penalty advantage, so he need not even have tackled the winger let alone kicked out at him. He was very lucky not to see yellow – red would not have been an injustice – and he is unlikely to have heard the last of it, especially as Palisson was forced to leave the field soon after with a dead leg.From then on it was the France show. Two tries followed in 10 minutes, William Servat and Yannick Jauzion scoring them for a 17-3 lead at the break.

France's second-half domination was total. The fine try Clément Poitrenaud finished off halfway through it was the least their supremacy warranted. Parra, François Trinh-Duc and Mathieu ­Bastareaud, all scandalously young, had Ireland in their grip. "We gave them a 14-point lead, and they were able to stroll away," was Declan Kidney's apt assessment."It was France's day and when you get beaten by three tries to one you can't complain."

France's show moves on to Cardiff next, while Ireland head to Twickenham nursing injuries to John Hayes, Leo Cullen and Rob Kearney, the latter's knee being of most concern. The Triple Crown remains a possibility for the Irish, albeit three long games away, which is the distance separating France from a grand slam. You sense their bullish youngsters cannot wait for the next opponents to wind up.